Bucs in uphill battle to rejoin NFL elite

FRED GOODALLAP Sports Writer

Published Saturday, September 03, 2005

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden reacts yells from the sideline during their NFC divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers in Tampa, Fla., in this Jan. 12, 2003 file photo. The Bucs have lost 20 of 32 games since winning the NFL title three seasons ago, and Gruden and his players are tired of answering lingering questions about the direction of the franchise.

"It seems like a very long time ago in a certain sense, theoretically speaking," the three-time Pro Bowl defensive end said. "But the reality is it was just yesterday. What is it, two or three years removed? Enough time to look back at, but not enough time to reflect on."

By his description, Rice is a man who offers complex answers to simple questions. He speaks without regard for how his words might affect others, though he insists he never intentionally steps on anyone's toes.

He's still puzzled by the furor he caused late last season when he suggested the Bucs suffered from a lack of discipline under Jon Gruden, and that the coach who helped an underachieving team win its first NFL title three seasons ago didn't hold all players accountable for their mistakes.

The Bucs have lost 20 of 32 games since winning the Super Bowl, becoming the first team in league history to take home the Lombardi Trophy and then miss the playoffs the following two seasons with losing records.

Free agency, salary cap issues and injuries have been a factor, but so have sloppy play, a shoddy kicking game and poor decisions on draft choices and veterans signed to shore up weaknesses.

Warren Sapp and John Lynch, two key components of a defense that helped transform the Bucs from a laughingstock into one of the NFL's elite teams, were sent packing after a 7-9 finish two seasons ago.

Receivers Keyshawn Johnson, traded after 2003 because of differences with Gruden, and Keenan McCardell, who held out most of 2004 in a contract dispute before being dealt to San Diego, are gone, too.

Throw in the much-publicized feud between Gruden and former Bucs general manager Rich McKay, who left for a similar position with NFC South rival Atlanta, and it's easy to understand how the team lost its championship edge.

"Obviously, business decisions are made in this league," eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "Losing the players we lost the last few years, I'm not going to tell you it didn't hurt because it did. It hurt to see you build something with someone and they're gone, not by their own will but by the will and the decisions made by others."

The Bucs have lost 15 games by a touchdown or less since the Super Bowl, eight of them on the way to finishing 5-11 last season.

"The reality was hard for us last year. Our fall from grace came without us really knowing it. You have to have a certain mentality, a certain bravado to go out and compete at a high level," Rice said.

"When Warren was here, along with myself up front, teams came in to play us thinking: 'What are we going to do? They're about to give us fits.' It's a bully mentality. From a concrete, hardcore standpoint, that was lost. We still have dominant players. It just wasn't the same. But we know who we are, we know what we're about, and we've addressed it."

Gruden is tired of questions about the direction of the franchise, and he's particularly sensitive to the perception that he prefers rebuilding with older players rather than developing young talent.

The Bucs entered last season with one of the oldest rosters in the league after signing aging veterans such as Derrick Deese, Todd Steussie and Charlie Garner, none of whom helped as much as the coach and general manager Bruce Allen had hoped.

One thing that impeded any inclination Gruden may have had to infuse younger players was a dearth of high draft picks, caused in part by the trade that brought the coach to Tampa Bay from Oakland.

The deal cost the Bucs two No. 1s and two No. 2s over three years. The situation worsened when the first two picks of the Gruden era -- third-round receiver Marquise Walker and fourth-round running back Travis Stephens -- turned out to be mistakes.

"We've got to get some young guys make our team. There haven't been many do that. I'm not being negative. I'm just being honest," Gruden said, rejecting the notion he doesn't have the patience to deal with rookies.

He offers as proof his days at Oakland, where he didn't hesitate to play cornerback Charles Woodson, offensive tackle Mo Collins and fullback Jon Ritchie early in their careers.

"Just because I didn't work things out with Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green and a lot of the young players that were here," Gruden said, stopping before finishing the thought about a pair of disappointing receivers he inherited with the Bucs.

"I'm sensitive toward it. I feel sorry. But that claim is ridiculous. I liked Marquise Walker and Travis Stephens. I really did. They just, in our opinion, couldn't help us go where we wanted to go. So we made some changes, and that's the way it is."

Gruden drafted Michael Clayton in the first round in 2004, and McCardell's holdout opened the door for him to become the team's go-to receiver with an NFL rookie-best 80 receptions for 1,193 yards.

Running back Cadillac Williams heads this year's crop of rookies, Tampa Bay's largest class of draft picks (12) since 1992. Guard Dan Buenning also may have an opportunity to start, and tight end Alex Smith is being counted on to contribute right away, too.

"I'm not quite sure what the perceptions are," Allen said. "But age isn't a number we care about. It's the talent level."

Rice sensed a new hunger in training camp and is confident problems that undermined the past two seasons are behind.

He mopped his brow one more time, and tried to dispel any notion that there could be lingering discord over his critical assessment of the post-Super Bowl fall.

Instead, he said everyone is focused on doing whatever is necessary to try to get back to the title game.

"There's no hard feelings. We've got something great going on," Rice said. "We've got a real good head coach, who sets a great tone ... got players who have one common goal. In the end, we're trying to get to Detroit. Don't let anybody fool you. That's why we're in this game."